Highway barrier



March 3, 1931.

Filed Opt. 22, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 22 19 .JIINVENTOR.

i rwu/AM MAQAM Patented Mar. 3, 1931 orricz WILLIAM J. ADAMS, or oocHRAN'roN, PENNSYLVANIA HIGHWAY BARRIER Application filed October 22, 1928. 'Seria1 No. 314,285. g V

This invention relates to improvements in highway barriers which are employedfor the purpose of deterring the drivers of automobiles from driving over such portions ofa highway as are being repaired or which portions are unfit for traffic for other reasons. Heretofore it has been customary to resort to various .crude expedients to serve this purpose such as the use of'boards laid on top of barrels, in the roadway, and lanterns placed on the boards or barrels, and various other crude arrangements of readily accessible parts,' but these have proven to be very unsatisfactory .as'they do not serve as an elfective means of warning'th'e drivers of automobiles .norare such arrangements substantial or secure and are liable to be knockedover or blown over. Therefore the present invention has as its general ob]ect to provide I a'barrier of simple construction which, when in transportation or storage, maybe folded to assume'a very compact formand which may be readily set up at any place desired along'ahighway and, when set up, will be substantial and rigidand serve efiectually its purpose as a warning to automobilists, to avoidthe sides of the barrier-is arranged; 1

Another object of the inventionis to provide a highwaybarrier so constructed that it will possess adesirable degree of stability, when set up, regardless of'inequalities-in the highway surface and which will therefore not be liable to accidentally overturn or be- 5 come displaced. A 4 Another objectof the invention istoprovide a'barrierembodying a barrier rail' upon the faces: of which any desired'sign maybe painted, andaifoldable leg'for supporting one end of the rail and a pair of'legs for suplegs being so "connected with the rail that when in extended position they will be securely locked against collapseand, when folded, they may lieflatagainst the opposite 1 faces of the said barrier-rail, the connecting means being arranged to permit of spreading of the lower ends of the legs and means being provided, upon the barrier rail,-forautomat- 0 ically effecting such rspreading of thewlegs highway at which the barrier rail;

' Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially on the line 2+2 of Figure 1 looking in the direction indicated 1 by the arrows;

Figure 3 isa similar iew on the line 3-3 of Figure 1 looking in the direction indicated by the arrowsfl I F Igure 4 1s an end elevation of the barrier; Figure 51s a's1de'elevat1on'of the barrier 111 folded or collapsed condition;

Figure 6 is a top plan view of the barrier in folded conditionasshown in Figure 5 Figure 7 is a detail top plan view of thatportionof the barrier rail with which the pair .of legs are connectedand illustrating the manner of connecting these legs with the said rail; 7.

Figure 8 is a vertical-sectional view taken substantially on the line 8+8 of Figure 7 looking in the direction i ndicated by the arrows; 7 i j I Figure 9 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line 99 of Figure 8 illustrating the means provided for effecting spreading of the legs; H Figure 10 isa vertical transverse sectional viewtaken substantially on theline 1010 I ofFigure 5 lookin jinthe direction indicated porting the other end: of the rail, the latter by the arrows;

Figure ll is a similar view'taken substantially on the line 11-11 of Figure 5 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; V

Figure 12 is a detail view in front ele- I vation of the lantern supporting end of the Figure 13 is a vertical transverse sectional View-takensubstantially on the line 1313 of Figure 12 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

Figure 14 is a horizontal sectional View taken substantially on the line 14-14 of Fig ure 12 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows and illustrating a portion of the structure in top plan.

Thebarrier embodying the invention in cludes a barrier rail which is indicated by the numeral 1 and which is preferably made of wood, and uponthatface of the rail which will be presented to oncoming traffic, there may be'printed any desired designs to attract attention'such for example as black and white diagonal stripes indicated by the numeral 2 and, if desired, the emblem 3 of the state in which the barrier is used. Of course, any other warning or caution notices or the like maybe painted upon the said face of the barrier rail. One'end of the barrier rail is supported by a leg. which is indicated by the numeral 4- and which is of wood and of the general rectangular oblong form shown in the drawings, and this leg is disposed at. its up per end against one face of the barrier rail 1, preferably that face which bearsthe painted matter, and a bolt 5 is fitted through the end ofthe barrier rail and through the said upperend of the leg 4, a wing nut 6 being fitted onto the bolt and adapted to be tight ened so as to hold the leg either'in the eX- tended or supporting position shown in Figure 1 or in'the collapsed position shown in Figures 5 and 6. In order that the lower end of'the leg 4' may be anchored with respect to the road surface, an anchoring rod 7- is, slidably adjustably mounted in guides 8 secured upon the side of the leg 4 near the lower end thereof and one above another, and this rod is provided with asharply pointed lower end 9 which may bedriven into the berm of the road bed by striking blows upon a laterally turned upper end lO'of the rod. A collar 1-1 1s formed or fixed upon the rod between the guides-8 and constitutes means'fo-r preventing separation of the rod from the guides. At this point. it.will beunderstood that the leg 4 may be adjusted about the bolt 5 to assume. the extended or supporting position shown-in- Figures 1 and 2 or it may be swung to the folded position shown in Figures 5 and'6, and in order that it may be held in this latter position, in which it extends beside the rail 2, a keeper member 12 is secured upon the barrier rail 1 andpreferably corn prises a barmetal member having one end bolted or otherwise secured to the rail and bent to extend outwardly from the rail and thence downwardly to providethe keeper or retaining portion 13, this portion being spaced from the face of the barrier rail- 1 a sufficient distance to snugly accommodate the leg 4 when the leg is swung to the folded position.

The barrier raillis supported. near its other end, by a pair of legs indicated by the numeral 14 and these legs are likewise preferably of wood and, in connecting the legs with the barrier rail, a relatively long strong bolt 15 is fitted through openings 16 formed in the upper ends of the legs and through a transverse opening 17 formed in the barrier rail 1, and by reference to Figures 6 and 7 it will be observed that the barrier rail has formed in its opposite faces recesses or seats 18 in which the upper ends of the legs 14 may engage when the legs are spread. A compression spring 19 is fitted onto the bolt 15 and bears at oneend against the outer side of one of the legs 14, and a wing nut 20 is threaded onto this end of the'bolt'and is adjustable to engage the other end of the spring and tovary the tension of said spring,

the bolt being provided at its otherend with at these points the legs 14 may be-fulcrumed,

against the tension ofthe spring. 19 so as to disengage their upper ends from the seats,

whereupon the legs may be swung about the bolt 15 asa fulcrum and to assume the folded position, extending beside the respective sides of the barrier rail 1, as shown in Figures 5 and 6. In this folded positionof-the legs,

the tension exerted by the spring 19 will serve to bind the pivoted: ends of the legs a'galnst the opposite faces of-the barrier rail, and-the free ends of the legs are retained in place against the rail bya keeper member 22 Y, which is most clearly shown in Figure 10of the drawings and'which' member'is of bar metal and comprises a connecting or attachmg portion 23 and downwardly projecting keeper portions 24, the attaching portion 23 being bolted or otherwise secured to the upper edge of the barrier rail land the saidportions 24 extending downwardly at opposite sides of said-rail in spaced relation thereto and accommodating between them the said freeend U portions of the legs 14.

In order that the legs 14 may be automatically spread to the position shown in Figures 3, 4 and 8 of the drawings, when. they are swung to supporting position, a spreader plate 25 is secured to the under side of the barrier'rail 1 screws or'other fastening devices 26-, and extends longitudinally ofi'the said edge of the rail at that portion thereof inwhich the seats18 are formed; clearly shown in FiguresS and 9 of the drawings and also in Figure 3, the lateral edge portions of the-plate 25 for a portion of their length project beyond the opposite sides of'thebarrierv rail 1 as indicated by the numeral 27 and these portlon's extend from one end of the plateto a point adjacent the other end from which point the edges areextended on converging lines as indicated by the numeral 28 until they merge wit-h the oppositeifaces of the barrier rail at the lower edge'thereof. Therefore, as the legs are swung from-the folded position shown'in Figure 5 to the supporting position, they will ride along the inclined edge portions 28 of the spreader plate 25 and onto the portions 27 of said plate and be thus spreadapartJ Inorder to prevent wear on the legs in riding in engagement with the spreader plate 25, wear plates 29. are seated and secured in recesses 30 formed in the inner side faces of the legs 14 and with their outer faces flush with the faces of the said legs, these plates'being of metal and being designed to ride against the edge portions 27 and 28 of'the spreader plate 25 in the swingingadjustment of the legs.

' It is of course desirable thatthe barrier shall constitute a warning during night hours as well as in daylight, and therefore the present invention contemplates the provision, upon that end of the barrier rail 1 which' is supported by the legs14, of a novelholding means for a signal lantern. As illustrated most clearly in Figures 12, 13 and 14 of the drawings, this holder comprises two lantern casing confining members 31 which are preferably'of wood and of substantiallyoblong rectangular form and fiat sided as'shown in tliese'figllres, the members being disclosed at one end against opposite sides of'the endv of the barrier rail 1 and secured thereto by means of bolts 32, the members extending from their attached'ends beyond the end of thebarrier rail and in spaced parallel relation to each other. The lantern which is retained by the supporting means just described is indicated in general by the numeral 33 and comprises a'hollow rectangular casing 34 which-is of sheet metal and of dimensions tobe snugly fitted between the opposing faces ofthe holding members 31, the casing being provided at its bottom with a burner '35 and oil font 36 and being provided at its with openings 40 formed in theholding members 31 and the outer face of each holding member is formedwith a circular recess 41 concentric to the openzngs40 and a-lens 42 is seated at its peripheral portion in. each .of theserecesses or seats and a retainingjring 43, preferably of metal, is disposed against the marginal portion of each'lens 42 and within the recess. Latch members area pivotally mounted as at 45 upon the outer face of each of the members 31 .at equithe burner.

therein and-areaadapted to be swung to occupy the position shown in Figures 12 and 13 ofthe drawings so as tooverlap the ring 43 and thus lock-thering-and the lens 42:.engagedthereby, in positionwithin the recess,

it being und'erstoodthat light rays from the burner. 35 willpassthrough the lenses 42 and be visible from either direction on the highway; In order that the lantern may be retained in place between the holding members 31 andsupport'ed against either downiivard or outward displacementpa supporting member which is indicated in general by the numeral 46 is provided and-this member comprises a resilient bar swiveled at one e'nd as at'47 upon the under side of the barrier rail 1 adjacent its end to which the holdingmembers 31 are secured, the bar being inclined downwardly as at 48 from'its swiveled end and thence extended horizontally to provide a supporting portion 49 which extends beneath the oil font '36 of the lantern and supports the lantern. At the o'uterend of the portion 49, the bar comprising the-supporting member isbent to provide annp'standing retaining portion 50 which, at its upperend, normally engages between the outer .ends of theholding members 31 and against the adjacent end wall of the lantern casing, this portion therefore serving to restrain the'lantion shown in Figure 14 of the drawings, a

finger piece 51 isprovided uponthe said retaining portion 50 of the member and it will be evidentthat-when the "member is swung tothis position, the retaining portion 5 0will be clear ofthe lantern casing andtherefore thejlantern maybe ;slid outwardly from between theholding' members 31 for the purpose of refilling it or trimming the wickor for the purpose of lighting or extinguishing In order to protectthe lenses 42froinbreakage through contact or impact with other objects, it is preferable that each of the members31 be provided upon its outer face with a number of guard prongs 52 which are'arranged about'the recess-141-insaidface and are of a length'to project a considerable distance beyond the lens 42arranged' in said recess. It will be understood of course the the lenses 42 may be red in color.

' In order that any desired Warning maybe given such for, example as to stop, slow down, or detour, and thus indicate to approaching 'motorists, the-precautionswhich they must observe when approaching the barrier,a-plurality ofsig'nal'blades 53 are pr'ovidedand these blades are preferably of sheet metal and .or side which bears the stripes 2 and it will be understood thatby tightening the nut 56 In order to protect rail 1. V It will be understood that, in the event of the pivoted ends of the arms may be frictionally bound so as to adapt any one' of the slgnal blades to be supported in the elevated position'sh'own in Figuresl, 3 and 4 of the drawings, the other blades being supported in the lowered position shown in Figure 4. Each of the bladeswill bear a warning word or words and the blades will beof different colors, one for example being red, another green, and a third white to indicate respec tively, danger, caution, and detour, and the blade which is white and indicates that a detour is to be made, may bear, in addition to the word detour, the letter R or the letter L to indicate the directionin whichthedetour is to be made. p 4

From the foregoing' description of the invention it will be understood that the barrier embodying the invention is one which is exceptionally substantial in I constructlon and possesses great stability and t Wlll also be evident that the barrier may be folded toe'x- .c'eptionally compact form as illustrated in Figures 5 and 6 of the drawings and transported from place to place and that it may be set up in a few moments time by merely adjusting the supporting legs to supporting orextended position. In practice the barrier will be arrangedat that side of the highway over which there'is' to be no traffic and with the lantern and signal supporting end of't'he barrier rail located substantially attlie middle of the; highway.

the wooden confining members 31 from injury which might otherwise be caused due to the heatradiated by the lantern, an asbestos lini'n 57 is provided to, extend over'the inner su'r aces of the said members 31 and across the end of the barrier the lantern carrying end of the barrier being struck by an automobile or in the event of a heavy wind, the barrier will not necessarily be overturned inasmuch as, by anchoring the rod 7 in the berm of the roadway, thebarrier may swing about this rod and thus yield to the force exertedagainst it.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. A highway barrier of the class described comprising a barrier rail, a single leg fold ably connected to the rail at one end thereof to extend downward-1y therefrom in su porting position and beside the rail in folded position, and a pairof legs foldably connected to the other end of the rail at opposite sides thereof to extend downwardly therefrom in supporting position andbeside the rail in folded position, and means upon the rail for effecting automatic spreading of the legs upon movement downwardly to supporting position, the said means comprising a spreader plate secured to the said rail below the connection of the legs therewith and having diverging lateral edge portions against which the legs are to ride when swung from folded to supporting position. t

2. A highway barrier of the class described comprising a barrier rail, a single leg foldably connected to the rail atone end thereof to extend downwardly therefrom in supporting position and beside the rail in folded position, a pair of legs foldably connected with the other end of the rail at the opposite sides thereof to extend downwardly therefrom in supporting position and beside the rail in folded position and, in the latter position, in contact with the opposite sides of the rail,.means upon the rail engageable by the legs in their swinging movement from folded to supporting position to effect outward spreading of the legs with respect to each other, and means upon the rail engageable by the connected ends ofthe legs to lock the legs in supporting position.

3. A highway barrier of the class described comprising a barrier rail, a single leg foldably connected to the rail at one end thereof to extend downwardly therefrom in supporting position and beside the rail in folded position, apair oflegs foldably connected with the barrier rail at the other end thereof to extend downwardly therefromin supporting position and beside and in Contact with the opposite sides of the rail in folded position the; rail being provided with seats in its op- J posite sides above the connection for the legs in which the upper? ends of the legs are to have locking engagement when the legs are in supporting position, and means upon the rail engageable by the legs to effect spreading of the legs and the engagement of their upper ends in said seats in the movement of the legs to supporting" position.

4; A highway barrier of the class described comprising a barrier rail, a leg fold-ably conneoted to the rail at one end thereof to extend downwardly therefrom in supporting position and beside the rail in folded position, a'pivot element fitted through the rail and projecting at oppositesides thereof, a pair of legs pivotal'ly mounted upon the projecting portions of said element, near their ing'downwardly from the rail and to position beside the rail, the said: legsbeing also 1 upper ends, for movement to position" extendmovable upon the pivot element to provide for spreading of the lower ends of the legs; means upon the pivot element yieldably hold- .ing the upper end portions of the legs in contact with the opposite sides of the said rail, and means upon the rail engageable by the legs in the movement of the legs from folded to supporting position to effect spreading of the said legs.

i 5. A highway barrier of the class described comprising a barrier rail, a single leg foldably connected to the rail atone side thereof to extend downwardly therefrom in supporting position and beside the rail in folded position, a pair of legs foldably connected to the other end of the rail at opposite sides thereof by a means permitting of spreading of the legs in supporting position and extension of the two legs along and in contact with the an opposite sides of the rail, and keeper members upon the rail having portions in spaced relation to a face of the rail and constituting means to coact with the legs'when swung to folded position.

6. In a highway barrier, a barrier rail, spread legs'supporting one end of the rail, a single leg supporting the other end of the rail, and an anchoring member rotatably and slidably mounted upon the single leg. C

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WILLIAM J. ADAMS. 

